Increased Tensions

Definition

Increased tensions refers to the growing conflicts and hostilities between Northern and Southern states, particularly in relation to the issue of slavery. These tensions were marked by a deepening divide and escalating disagreements over the expansion of slavery into new territories.

Related terms

Compromise of 1850: This was a series of laws passed by Congress that aimed to settle disputes between free and slave states. It included provisions such as admitting California as a free state but also strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act: This act allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide whether or not to allow slavery through popular sovereignty, intensifying tensions as both pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups flooded into those areas.

Dred Scott Decision: A Supreme Court ruling that declared enslaved individuals were property, not citizens, which further deepened divisions between North and South regarding the legality of slavery.